The prior art includes several devices for providing ankle support for shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,681, assigned to the assignee herein and hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses an athletic shoe having a Y-shaped spring on each side of the ankle embedded in the side of the shoe wherein an arm of the Y-shaped spring on one side of the ankle fastens under tension to an arm of the Y-shaped spring on the other side of the ankle.
The prior art includes several removable support devices for shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,506 to Osaki discloses a removable support for a shoe having a strap that surrounds the ankle.
None of these patents disclose a structure that provides an ankle support that includes sheet springs and is removable. None of these patents provide the advantages of the present invention.